


Anamnesis

by FreeCake4All



Category: The Long Dark (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Deja Vu, Gen, Kinda, Leaning on the Fourth Wall, Not Beta Read, Wintermute Spoilers, but still, don't worry they get better, vaguely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21784795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeCake4All/pseuds/FreeCake4All
Summary: Anamnesisan·am·ne·sis/ˌanəmˈnēsis/noun-The remembering of things from a supposed previous existence.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Anamnesis

The moment she wakes up from the crash, she closes her eyes again for a moment. She smells the air. Lets the wind blow through her hair. Just feels the quiet.

_Mystery Lake. Southern end. Trappers Cabin to the west._

She doesn't know how she knows any of this. She just knows that this place has the familiarity of somewhere that she's visited many, many times.

And she feels it's something more than simple deja vu.

*

She doesn't know why finding the cabin empty is so... disheartening. What was she expecting? As much as she hates to admit it, she knows, deep down, that she is never going to find another human as long as she's here on this island. At least, nobody who's _alive._

Still, there's a sad feeling that there's supposed to be somebody here. A name that she can't quite remember.

Whoever it is, she can only hope he isn't dead.

*

Sure enough, following the railroad leads her to a hydroelectric dam. The building is honestly everything she could ask for given the circumstances it has food, water, medicine, and most importantly, its _warm_. Overall, its not a bad place to hole up in for a while.

Even though she's now thoroughly sure- on a logical level at least- of how alone she is on this island, she can't quite shake the idea that there is someone or something in here with her. Of course, there's really just the dead guy in the stairwell, and he's not going anywhere.

She hates that she's getting used to the corpses.

*

Somehow not finding a dead body in the basement of the farm house doesn't quite ease up the bad feeling she has. Well, the entire farm house gives her an unsettling feeling- and its not the creaking boards and empty rooms. What makes it worse is the feeling that this place should just be comforting. Its got beds, and a fireplace, supplies- heck, it just feels kinda homey. So why can't she shake this creepy feeling?

But a the feeling fades away over the course of a few days. She even stops wondering if Molly is coming back.

Whoever Molly is.

*

There are supposed to be people here.

For some reason, the fact that the community hall is empty is just _disturbing_ to her. There should be a priest, and survivors from a plane crash, and the fireplace should have a fire in it and-

She doesn't know how she knows this, and she doesn't know why, of all the empty places she's come across, _this_ place is the one that really bothers her. All she knows is that she can't stay here.

*

Days of climbing, and she still hasn't made it to the summit.

The note in the cabin mentioned something about a crash at the top of the mountain, and she's been seeing the remains of a plane on her way up. If her hunch is right and that plane is there, there should be plenty of supplies. Enough to last her a good, long while.

It starts to snow as she makes her way up the mountain. It starts light, but soon enough its a full-blown blizzard, the kind where you can't clearly see anything more than a foot from your face.

The biting cold would be bad enough, but as she's attempting to set up her snow shelter, she hears it. A long, high howl, just above the howling of the wind.

 _Wolf_.

She fumbles for her pistol as she hears the wolf bark. Its getting closer. She spins around in a panic. Where is it? _Where_ -

Something slams into her, knocking her to the ground and ripping into her side.

Too panicked to reach for her knife, she grabs the pistol she dropped, beating the wolf over the head with the thing, over and over until the wolf stops trying to tear her apart and runs away whimpering.

She lays there on the ground. Her vision is blurred and she can feel the blood seeping out of her and onto the snow. She sways as she stands, reaching into her bag for her bandages.

She can't even start patching herself up when she hears the wolf barking again, ready for another round.

She knows that she can't last another fight with this thing, so she runs. She doesn't know where she's going, except _away_.

She runs, and she runs, and she runs.

She runs, and then she feels her feet leave the ground and not come back down again.

For a second, she feels like she's flying.

The next second, she realizes she's falling.

The second after that, the realization that its too late to save herself hits.

The second after that, she screams.

The last second, there's a sickening crunch as she hits the ground and-

*

_You faded into The Long Dark_...

*

The moment she wakes up from the crash, she closes her eyes again for a moment. She smells the air. Let's the wind blow through her hair. Just feels the quiet.

 _Mountain Town. Northeast end. Trailers nearby_.

She doesn't know how she knows any of this. She just knows that this place has the familiarity of somewhere that she's visited many, many times.

And she feels it's something more than simple deja vu.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a while now, its inspired by how, after a you've played the game for while, you get to know the maps, to the point where you just know where things are- but how must the Survivor feel, being unfamilar with this island, yet somehow knowing exactly where to go? Also, playing the new Pleasant Valley map after playing the 3rd episode of Wintermute and visiting the empty community center felt... unsettling.


End file.
